Cycling route: Sanctuary of Tiscar - Collado Zamora

Puerto de Tíscar is one of the most emblematic historical passes in these mountains, as the towers and watchtowers in the area show. The route starts at the Sanctuary of Tíscar, where a visit to the spectacularly beautiful natural temple of Cueva del Agua (Water Cave) is a must. Pedal uphill on the A-323 road in the direction of the Tíscar Pass, past the hill known as La Pedriza and the ravine Barranco de la Presilla on your right. 4.5 km further on, just before you arrive at the pass and Torreón de Don Enrique tower, turn off onto a track on the right in the direction of Loma del Rayal, which goes around Loma de los Picones.

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NAME OF THE TRAIL

SANTUARIO DE TISCAR A COLLADO ZAMORA

TYPE OF TRAIL

LINEAR (Round trip)

START POINT

Sanctuary of Tíscar

HEIGHT

893 m

ARRIVAL POINT

Junction of Río Madera on the JF-7038 with the JF-7039

HEIGHT

1414 m

TOTAL DISTANCE (IN KILOMETERS)

16410 (one way)

Asphalt or cement section % of total 26.9%

Section of track or forest road or promenade % of total 73.1%

Senda section % of the total %

Sections of livestock track. Green way % of the total %

Type of firm

Sandy and rocky

SLOPE

1111 m

609 m

DIFFICULTY. ASSESSMENT ACCORDING TO METHOD MEASURE

0

MEDIO.

Severity of the natural environment

0

Itinerary

Orientation in the itinerary

0

Displacement

Difficulty moving

0

EFFORT.

Amount of effort required

TYPE OF CARTOGRAPHY

Topographic maps of ANDALUCÍA DE IGN (1: 25.000): SHEET 21 and 33

PASSAGE PLACES (IN ORDER TO THE DIRECTION OF TRAVEL)

1

Santuario de Tiscar

30S x=498049 y=4180443

894

2

Barranco de la Presilla

30S x=498071 y=4181570

986

3

Desvío a Loma del Rayal

30S x=497198 y=4182430

1135

4

Desvío a Garbanzal

30S x=497321 y=4182952

1181

5

Arroyo del Barranco del Garbanzal

30S x=498091 y=4183491

1111

6

Río Extremera

30S x=498759 y=4184429

1110

7

Collado Hoyo de los Corzos

30S x=498420 y=4185035

1199

8

Arroyo de la Cueva de Jaén

30S x=500226 y=4185907

1307

9

Ventana Panorámica a buitrera

30S x=499701 y=4186403

1334

10

Paraje botánico singular

30S x=500428 y=4186817

1422

11

Puente Rosalejo

30S x=500639 y=4187622

1403

12

Collado Zamora-vistas panorámicas

30S x=500141 y=4188071

1414

HEIGHT PROFILE

MUNICIPAL TERMS BY WHICH IT RUNS

DESCRIPTION

The Port of Tíscar constitutes one of the most emblematic historical passages of the whole mountain range and proof of this are the watchtowers and towers existing in the area. Our tour begins at the Sanctuary of Tiscar, where we must visit the Cueva del Agua, a spectacular natural temple of great beauty. We will ascend by road A-323 towards the Puerto de Tíscar, leaving the Cerro de la Pedriza and the Barranco de la Presilla on our right. 4.5 km from the beginning, very close but before reaching the port and Torreón de Don Enrique, we will take a track to the right towards the Loma del Rayal, which surrounds the Loma de los Picones.

At 800 m from the beginning we leave this main track, to take a path that is not very visible at the beginning, which goes to the left and goes up a small valley towards a gate formed by two rocks, where there is a chain that closes the way to vehicles motor. This is the detour to the Barranco del Garbanzal. The path soon begins to descend, sticking to the vertical limestone walls that make up this entire mountain slope. The entire route is spectacular, due to the views on one side of these walls and on the other the plains full of olive trees in the lower part.

Soon, 6.5 km from the start, we have descended until we cross the Arroyo del Garbanzal. From here the track begins to climb until we reach a crossroads. We must continue to the right and soon we will leave the remains of the Casa Forestal del Garbanzal on our right. Again a small descent until crossing the Extremera river at 8.1 km, a small high mountain river that descends from the Barranco de los Arenales and from the Extremera Barranco itself. Before crossing the river, we must ignore another track that goes to the left.

From this moment the climb begins again, making several zig zags, until reaching Collado de la Hoya de los Corzos. Here we will find another track that starts to the left that we must also neglect. We have a steep slope on both sides, but the track seems to cling to this slope, the next almost three kilometers are continuous up and down, with an upward trend, until reaching the Arroyo from the Cave of Jaén (12.2 km). Before it we leave on our right and just above us some vultures located on a marine sedimentary fold. In addition to the griffon vulture, they are very conducive to the observation of hawks and various species of eagles.

After the stream, we have a better position to observe these vultures, the climb becomes stronger again and we arrive, after a wide curve to the right, to a small hill devoid of vegetation, from which there are great panoramic views of both the vulture as of the enclave where we are. In the middle of this curve we must discard a new descending track to our left. The mistletoe is very abundant throughout this area, parasitizing the black pine.

We continue the climb, from this clear promontory, and soon we pass through one of the most unique places of the entire route. It is a small corner, in which there is a totally different microclimate from the rest of the slope, cooler, basically due to its altitude and orientation. We noticed a different thermal sensation and also botanical species that we had not observed throughout the climb, as is the case of several yews, some of them of considerable size, as well as a few maple trees.

At 15.5 km we cross a bridge over the Bejar river, leaving a containment dam on our right. The pine forest twists its roots into the rocks and soon, in just 800 m we come to a chain that cuts off motor vehicle traffic. To our right, remains of the old forest house and in front, the Collado Zamora. We are on a true natural balcony from which, on clear days, the Sierra Nevada and Sierra Mágina massif can be seen perfectly. It is an ideal route for the observation of fauna, especially fallow deer, mouflon, mountain goat and wild boar.

The return is made by the same route outward.

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